Assessment of a recent tribocorrosion model for wear of metal-on-metal hip joints: Comparison between model predictions and simulator results

• The study attests usefulness of the model for predicting MoM wear rates.
• The model correctly predicts wear rates observed in MoM hip joint simulators.
• It allows identify determining material, mechanical and electrochemical parameters.
• It emphasizes the need of the electrochemical conditions in artificial hip joints.
• It offers the possibility to predict in-vivo MoM wear rate for individual patients.

A composite running-in wear model for metal-on-metal artificial hip joints, which combines tribocorrosion and lubrication aspects, was published recently. In order to check the quality of the model prediction, wear rates from nineteen well-controlled simulator wear studies were summarized and compared to the model predicted values. The results showed that the simulator wear results correlate well with the model predicted values. By estimating the maximum wear rate, the model can be used clinically to mitigate the failure risk of metal-on-metal hip joints. Furthermore, this study demonstrates the roles of the involved crucial parameters, giving tutorial suggestions of the input parameters and output values for the wear prediction of metal-on-metal artificial hip joints.